The course record was smashed in Round 15 of the Friction Hydraulics Series as Ashley Cox posted a blistering 47 minute 41 second ride to beat Sean Mullen’s benchmark set in 2021 by 51 seconds in the Chester Roads Club 25 held on the Tern Hill – Shawbirch course. The Team Bottrill rider showed a clean pair of heels to the chasing pack, averaging just shy of 31.5mph – not that the following pack were hanging around with six Shropshire riders breaking the hour.

Taking the honours for the County was Oswestry Paragon’s Kieran Morris, who was Overall runner-up in 51:23. This was Morris first appearance in this Series in 2022 after time out, and he know he had been in a race: “It went as well as expected. I knew we were all racing for second with Ashley Cox riding. Only my third time trial of the year, a little rusty. Thank you to the marshals and organisers, much appreciated”.

Friction Series leader Tim Beardmore stretched that lead in both the Overall and Veterans Championships after taking County runner-up spot in 53:06, 2:09 ahead of Bridgnorth CC team mate Jonathan Mills-Keeling and capturing the same place in the Veterans with +14:50, +2:22 ahead of Mills-Keeling when the age-related standards had been applied. Beardmore holds 95 and 65 point leads respectively in these Championships; but the Bridgnorth duo also had further reason to celebrate after stretching the club’s lead in the Top Club Award to 125 points. He stated: “A lovely warm morning for racing. There was a headwind on the outward leg, so I went out really hard and then hung on for the second half. I found a decent rhythm, but a little ragged towards the end as the effort began to bite. I was very pleased with a personal best, thanks to everyone at Chester RC for organising”.

Mills-Keeling enjoyed his morning out after taking double third with 55:15 and +12:28, but like Beardmore also found the trip down to Shawbirch a testing one: “A nice early start before the heat built up. I found the outwards leg hard, pushed on the return. Happy with third, thanks to all involved”.

Neither rider could get the better of Deb Hutson-Lumb in the Veterans though as she posted an excellent +15:05, and made it a customary double too by winning the Womens race with a fine 1:01:13, 17 seconds ahead of Hafren CC’s Emma Serjeant. Hutson-Lumb suffered for those wins however, as she explained: “Sore tired legs in the warm up set the scene for an uncomfortable race. I was pleased with my time though, and looking forward riding the course again – many thanks to Chester RC for a fabulous event”.

Friction and Hydraulic Services Shropshire Championship Points Series – Round 15

Posn Forename Surname Club Cat Time Points
1 Kieran Morris Oswestry Paragon CC S 51:23 60
2 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth Cycling Club V 53:06 55
3 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth Cycling Club V 55:15 50
4 Bryn Davies Hafren CC V 56:01 45
5 Graeme Donnell Revolutions Racing V 58:17 40
6 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V 58:45 35
7 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV 1:01:13 30
8 Robbie Disney Ludlow CC V 1:01:14 25
9 Ian Connolly Ludlow CC V 1:01:24 20
10 Emma Serjeant Hafren CC WV 1:01:30 15
11 Gino Trasatti North Shropshire Wheelers V 1:03:11 10
12 George Coombes Shropshire CCA V 1:03:28 5
13 Dave Moore Wrekinsport CC V 1:04:46 5
14 Les Boughey North Shropshire Wheelers V 1:07:30 5
15 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC WV 1:07:57 5
16 Geoff Edgerton North Shropshire Wheelers V 1:10:19 5
17 Robert Elliott Wrekinsport CC V 1:17:12 5
. Helen Blake Wrekinsport CC W DNS .
. Chester Romei North Shropshire Wheelers J DNS .
. Andrew Rose Revolutions Racing V DNS .

Friction and Hydraulic Services Veterans Championship – Round 15

Vet Posn Forename Surname Club Cat Vet Std Vet Points
1 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV +15:05 60
2 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth Cycling Club V +14:50 55
3 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth Cycling Club V +12:28 50
4 Gino Trasatti North Shropshire Wheelers V +12:12 45
5 Bryn Davies Hafren CC V +11:42 40
6 Graeme Donnell Revolutions Racing V +11:22 35
7 Emma Serjeant Hafren CC WV +11:06 30
8 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V +7:37 25
9 Ian Connolly Ludlow CC V +7:13 20
10 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC WV +7:12 15
11 Geoff Edgerton North Shropshire Wheelers V +6:09 10
12 Dave Moore Wrekinsport CC V +5:10 5
13 Les Boughey North Shropshire Wheelers V +2:44 5
14 Robert Elliott Wrekinsport CC V -2:20 5
. Andrew Rose Revolutions Racing V . .

Friction and Hydraulic Services Women’s Championship – Round 15

Women’s Posn Forename Surname Club Cat Time Women’s Points
1 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV 1:01:13 60
2 Emma Serjeant Hafren CC WV 1:01:30 55
3 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC WV 1:07:57 50
. Helen Blake Wrekinsport CC W DNS .

Top Club Award – Round 15

Posn Club Points
1 Bridgnorth Cycling Club 105
2 Oswestry Paragon CC 65
3 Hafren CC 60
4 North Shropshire Wheelers 55
5 Ludlow CC 45
=6 Revolutions Racing 40
=6 Wrekinsport CC 40

Cumulative Standings after fifteen rounds

Friction and Hydraulic Services Shropshire Championship Points Series

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth CC V 715
2 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth CC V 620
3 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 550
4 Bryn Davies Hafren CC V 425
=5 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 390
=5 Graeme Donnell Revolutions Racing V 390
7 Mason Durant Paramount CRT S 305
=8 Daniel Watts SCCA Private Member S 220
=8 Dean Callister Revolutions Racing S 220
10 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC WV 170

Friction and Hydraulic Services Veterans Championship

Position Name Club Best 12
1 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth CC 740
2 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth CC 675
3 Graeme Donnell Revolutions Racing 540
4 Chris Riley Paramount CRT 505
5 Bryn Davies Hafren CC 435
6 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC 410
7 Emma Serjeant Hafren CC 360
8 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC 285
9 Andrew Rose Revolutions Racing 215
10 Robert Elliott Wrekinsport CC 175

Friction and Hydraulic Services Women’s Championship

Women’s Pos’n Name Club Best 12
1 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC 645
2 Victoria Doran Wrekinsport CC 535
3 Emma Serjeant Hafren CC 490
4 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC 430
5 Clare O’Donnell Wrekinsport CC 90
6 Bethan Till Wrekinsport CC 65
7 Robin Jones Bridgnorth CC 60
8 Helen Blake Wrekinsport CC 45

Friction and Hydraulic Services Junior Championship

Junior Pos’n Name Club Best 12
1 Chester Romei North Shropshire Wheelers 345
2 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC 170
3 Alex Hart Mid Shropshire Wheelers 60
4 Noah White Mid Shropshire Wheelers 45

Top Club Award

Position Club Total Points
1 Bridgnorth CC 1575
2 Wrekinsport CC 1450
3 Paramount CRT 1040
4 Revolutions Racing 870
5 Hafren CC 615
6 North Shropshire Wheelers 365
7 Oswestry Paragon CC 275
8 Holohan Coaching Race Team 120
9 Ludlow CC 125
10 Mid Shropshire Wheelers 15
=11 Newport (Shropshire) CC 5
=11 Nova Raiders  5